Naruto 536, Bleach 445, One Piece 622

Oh my, time does fly doesn't it? In a week and a month's time, I would be finished with the first semester of my first year in degree. That's fast. It's like a blink of an eye. And these 5 weeks will be pretty jammed with study sessions and most importantly, it will be filled up with assignments. So don't worry if I miss a week or two's post, no I'm not dead, I'm just not free. Teehee.

Naruto 536

Oh my holy whatever, Madara has entered the fray. MA-DA-RA has entered the fray. Let me repeat. MA-DA-RA has entered the fray. Oh, did I mentioned that Madara entered the fray? On the other side, Naruto and Bee are also on their way to join in the fray. So much for the self-regenerating barrier. And that commander. He's lame, what can I say? But it was quite appropriate, considering the tense situation in previous chapters. Mizukage and her team are trying to protect the feudal lords, though Madara no longer needs them, however, he still attacks the area in order to separate the forces. Divide and conquer. And would you believe it? Zetsu actually called Madara Tobi...again. I was half expecting Madara to say something along the lines of "Don't ever say that name again". Anyway, Madara said something about a substitution. I take this to mean a substitute for his body, but it could mean anything. Either way, he enters the fray just as the Shinobis take down the Zetsus and the Zombies. He summons the King of Hell statue, in full body form. And battle is about to begin. Woohoo! Can't wait for the next chapter...

Why is it not here yet!

Bleach 445

Oh man, Ichigo acting all cool one moment and getting his ass handed to him the next must be the most enjoyable experience since the start of Bleach's decline. Everyone is a dumbass in this chapter. From that Jackie all beaten up on the floor, to Riruka shouting about some gas explosion, to Sado talking in front of Ichigo about a secret he wants to be kept from Ichigo, and well, the main event himself - Ichigo. This chapters only saving grace is perhaps the prelude to a fight between Ginjo and Tsukishima. It would be a downer if the fight doesn't happen, with Tsukishima giving some lame excuse, and save his sword for another day. I can totally see that happening and sincerely hope it will not be so. 

If I learned anything about this chapter, is that Fullbring is a total fraud. At least for Ichigo it is. It is a masked put over his usual abilities. In other words, he has the same abilities, just different names. Hack, even Sado notices it. Fullbring on air = Shunpo? Shrouded in Fullbring = Bankai? I won't be surprise if a shock wave attack comes next. Anyway, isn't Fullbring suppose to be usable only with the objects on holds dearest? So how is air dear to Ichigo? Sure, we breath it everyday and all, but serious? Don't tell me it's the boots either. Because that would be even weirder. 

One Piece 622

Sitting down here and thinking of what to write about this chapter, I have come to realize there is not much going on. Otohime goes on with her pursue for signature while the Sunny Pirates continue to roam the seas. A young Hodi Jones is also shown, together with several other young Fishmen. The Sunny Pirates fight some marines, however, Fisher Tiger reprimands Arlong and Jimbei, telling them not to kill, least they become like humans. Fisher Tiger intends to uphold this vow of not taking a life. He wants Otohime's ideal, but the demons in his heart prevents him to do so. (I don't know how to put that into words, so it might come off as odd..) As the chapter ends, Fisher Tiger is assigned to a human kid back to his home. He teaches the kid to drop off his slave habits and the kid ends up crying for the first time in many years. I have to say, this flashback really interests me, although I still can't see what it has to do with the present, yet.

Gaming Sunday: God Eater Burst

Introduction 

Wow! It has been quite a while since I posted a Gaming Sunday section, eh... Been quite busy, having a retreats and some mid term tests. Didn't have much time to enjoy games. On top of that, assignment deadlines are fast approaching. Why does all assignments have deadlines of the second half of the semester? It is killing me. Thank God two of them are group assignments. Phew! 

Anyway, Introduction is supposed to introduce the game. Got carried away there. Introducing God Eater Burst! A sort of upgrade of God Eater, and the only version available in English! Correct me if I am wrong, but the developers had wanted to translate God Eater, but thought they would save cost by only translating God Eater Burst, since both are quite similar. If it was me, I would have translated God Eater anyway, most people would jump at the chance to buy both. If they were interested enough. 

Bleach 444, One Piece 621, Naruto 535

Hey guys. Had a great time last week going for a retreat. It opened my eyes to a lot of things. One direct thing was probably this - even if the environment around the camp is tip-top quality tranquil, lots of trees, peaceful, serene, fresh-airy, whatever, but with if the service of the staff there is down the drain, it can ruin everything. Instead, try to enjoy what you can, and ignore the bad things around you. I wonder how the tourist feel about the bad food served for breakfast. Bad as in it tastes bad, not it being spoiled and what not.

Seems like for the time that I haven't been around, my chatbox has exploded with what I perceive as spam. Senseless messages + weird URLs are really tingling my suspicion that this blog has come under the attention of spammers. Oh no! But if you aren't a spammer and has been commenting on the chatbox, well, sorry! But those sincere messages must have been hidden somewhere along the lines of spam. Anyways, on to mangas, mangas and mangas!

Bleach 444

Naruto 533, One Piece 619, Bleach 442

Argh, just passed one assignment up yesterday, and two tests coming up the week after next. Sometimes University life can be full of fun and carefree-ness. Others, its jam pack with deadlines. Assignments, test and what not. I guess the best thing about uni studies is this - you send everything you learn this semester into the recycle bin. No use really, unless it has a continuing subject, part 2 or something. And when that happens, just restore it from the recycle bin. Where as secondary school life, remember, remember, remember, pour out at the public exams. Then hit permanent erase. Anyways, on to mangas this week....

Naruto 533

Gaming Sunday: Dissidia 012 [duodecim]: Final Fantasy

Introduction

Best Game Ever for the PSP. So far. I don't really know what attracts me so much about Dissidia. Maybe seeing all those cool Final Fantasy Heroes and Villains face off? Or maybe it is the way the game is played, after all the only Final Fantasy game I played prior to the first Dissidia was Crisis Core, so to put it in a way, I was not much "learned of the lore" of Final Fantasy. Hack, I used to think Final Fantasy I-XII were part of a long storyline. Or maybe, it was the "drawn to a world by gods to fight a war" sounding like Warriors Orochi, that I decided to play it. But either way, I wholly enjoyed the first Dissidia, and Duodecim was no different.

Considerations, Dilemmas and What Not

There are a few things I am considering for the moment.  Some are for this blog, others are just for my amusement. The latter involves making some noise with FL Studio, (I said noise but its more towards looping a few notes or something of the like), and messing around with the possibility of making a WarCraft 3 map, which I have been at since forever. I think I have actually improved my FL Studio skill. I think. Then again, maybe not.

Gaming Sunday: SimCity 4

Introduction

This game is dinosaur. Well, in the sense that it is really old. 2003 I think. I actually played this earlier. Two times in fact. Both times I uninstalled the game after failing to balance the city's budget, it was in my honest opinion, really tough do to so. This time around, it was reintroduced to me by my friend with the inclusion of mods. Now, that's what I call good city building sim. Added with famous landmarks and super civil services, SimCity 4 became more manageable, and as a result, quite fun to play.

First off, great apologies for not being able to post up pictures, except the one above. Somehow or rather, my Internet has been quite slow today. The picture up there was uploaded earlier, after which and stop blogging a while to take some pictures of my cities, did some programming exercises, and wah lah, Internet slow.

One Piece 618, Bleach 441, Naruto 532

I was kinda worried that we wouldn't be getting any mangas this week, with all that's happened in Japan. Let us observe moment of silence. 

Truth be told, the first time I heard about the earthquake and tsunami, I was thinking, I hope Nobuo Uematsu did not die in that disaster. Next thing I thought of was whether Final Fantasy Type-0 and Final Fantasy Versus XIII was gonna get postponed. And finally, my thought reach whether the mangakas were hurt in the disaster. Thinking like this made me feel kinda sad. Why? Because my thoughts would probably the same thoughts for a lot of people around the World, especially those without any acquaintances there. It goes to show that Japan, a great economical power, a respectable nation that advance so quickly is so short a time was thought only as a producer of great video games and manga/anime. Kinda sad fact though. Enough about those gloomy stuff, like us go on to One Piece...woohoo...

P.S: I wonder how many others actually worried about the safety of AV Idols...>_> (One of my friends did...)

One Piece 618

Gaming Sunday: God of War

Introduction

Finally, my first PS3 game finished! Yippee! Ignore the big Playstation 2 in the above picture, that was just a placeholder. The one I played was part of the God of War Collection. Talking about PS3, yes I finally bought one. Woohoo! A Gran Turismo 5 bundle. Although I must say I am lacking in terms of financial ability to buy new games, so I'm stuck with GT5 and GoW Collections for the time being. I guess you could say that I'm a God of War fan, having played two games prior to this and a great fan of Greek mythology.

Naruto 531, One Piece 617, Bleach 440

  I've been thinking lately of how to improve my blog. How I can actually have more visitors that actually come to read something instead of just dropping by to check things out. Blog traffic has been on the increase the few months, which I think is rightly accredited to the Countdown to Duodecim series, which has quite sadly, ended. Now that it has ended, I am back to my usual routine, which MIGHT, and I stress MIGHT, mean lower blog traffic. Hmm...I wonder what I should do...teehee... Anyways, back to business.

Naruto 531

Naruto 530, Bleach 439

Too absorbed in Dissidia 012. I was kinda glad that I was able to peal myself off my PSP to read a couple of pages of manga. Kinda glad that One Piece was not around, since that would mean more time reading and more time thinking and indeed, more time writing and more thinking. Nevertheless....

Naruto 530

Duodecim Shock: Cid of Lufaine is a Moogle?

Too Shock for Words

Gaming Sunday: Battle for Middle Earth

Introduction

After enjoying Battle for Middle Earth II, I decided to give its predecessor a try. Suffice to say that I was given as much of a shock as Battle for Middle Earth II gave me. In my honest opinion, Battle for Middle Earth trumped it's successor in many ways. As for why they changed as they did, I don't know what was in there minds. But, then again, it might be just me. Other people might prefer BFME II though. It all comes down to personal choices I guess.

Naruto 529, Bleach 438, One Piece 616

Ahh...the first week of semester has ended. The tormenting second week is about to begin. The week where assignments are released and lectures starts fully. I should really shift up a gear in expectations of next week, but somehow can't find the motivation to do so. Enough about my probably crappy next week, lets start off with the mangas.

Naruto 529

Countdown to Duodecim 6: One More Week!

Hi one and all, with have one more week until the launch of Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy. Yes...it's next Thursday. Yippee. I can hardly contain my excitement. I can't imagine I actually followed a game from announcement to launch, with a few weeks exception in between (exams and stuff), but yea, that's amazing. Congratulations, I think. That's the word I should be telling myself. Yea, that's it.

One Piece 615, Bleach 437, Naruto 528

Hey, everyone, wish me luck for my finals tomorrow! I'm having trouble memorizing all those different dates, policy and features related to politics. Not my cup of tea if you asked me. History is suppose to be a study of interesting events, like World Wars, and read about people like Genghis Khan, Julius Ceasar or Alexander the Great. But, oh well, I'm stuck studying about Constitutions, Citizenship and Separation of Power...

One Piece 615

Okay, how is the Mato-mato a curse? I thought it was a devil fruit ability? Maybe it's because it cause Vander Decken to be unable to swim even though he is a Fishman. That and the appearance of Jimbei talking to an unknown person he calls Otohime is pretty much the only things that caught my interest in this chapter. Hodi Jones and Vander Decken bullying Hatchan and Hatchan arguing with them are really, really not my cup of tea. Something along the line of the old Fishman Pirates or Arlongs crew or something like that. Whatever. Glad to see Chopper still has that part of him, you'll know what I mean. And Robin and Franky, where are you?

War is coming, war is coming. I hope it will be something interesting. Hodi Jones + Vander Decken is assaulting Fishman Island, aiming to claim Ryuguu Palace. On the other hand, this Otohime, apparently the wife of Neptune and the mother of the Princes and Shirahoshi is at the Sea Forest, a place known as a grave. I wonder if Shirahoshi is heading there to meet her...but I guess she's dead. She caused some uproar 10 years ago with her ideals. Hmmm... interesting

Bleach 437

Hmm...Swastika Break...hang out, where the hell is the Swastika? All I see is a Manji, a reverse Swastika, other wise known as Sauwastika. Hmm...anyway, Ichigo has unleash his Fullbring power. He has turned his Shinigami Badge into a Big Manji symbol. Just what I thought Ichigo had discovered the Bleach equivalent of Rasenshuriken, he threw it, only to have it disappear. Hmm...failed Rasenshuriken? Guess not. Apparently, he has to touch the badge in order for his new found skill to work. He proceeds to make short work of the Mr Piggy.

Meanwhile, Inoue visits Sado's house and is attacked by someone. Guess the plot line is starting to thicken. I wonder who they are. I can't help but think that the Fullbringers are actually villain. Somehow. I mean look at Ginjou, he looks like a stinking replica of Aizen. Well, similar. Somehow, I doubt they are really "good" people. Somehow. 

Naruto 528

Oh well, my guess was wrong. Apparently being silent for too long is also a way to get sealed into the gourd. Darui realizes it and starts talking some nonsense. Arguing, if you well, with the Brothers about being the Right Arm of the Raikage. Bam, he gets sucked into the gourd. Guess what? Along the way of talking, he said something like "dull". It wasn't that clear in the english version, however, it should be a play of words. For example, he said something like "xxxd uller". Well, you get my drift. However, on the way into the gourd, he starts spouting some sorries. Sorry to Samui and Atsui. Saying sorry to the Raikage and a bunch of other sorries, leading to sorry becoming his most used word. The curse stops, and he fights one of the brothers, taking away his weapons and using them to seal him. The other brother gets angry, turning to a seemingly six-tailed form of the Kyuubi. He runs amok. Kakuzu states that it has been a long time since he has see that brother turning mad ad reckons that someone has defeated Ginkaku.

Quite the epic battle, but I'm still more hopeful of looking at other battles, but knowing Kishimoto, he'll probably end one fight before starting another. I wonder how Darui knew that Kinkaku looked just like the Kyuubi? I mean, did he ever see it? Regardless, he was only half right, since the real Kyuubi was nothing like that, rather the Six Tailed form of Naruto.

Countdown to Duodecim 5: Gilgamesh and more!

Ladies and gentlemen, in two weeks time, we will be enjoying ourselves crazy with Duodecim, albeit it is in Japanese. I'm sure most of you would get it anyway. Joining the "officially announced" characters, is Gilgamesh, the cult icon that appeared in most Final Fantasies since FF5. However, this will be his FF5 incarnation as well as some allusions to his later appearances. He will be the first NEW and hopefully not the last Warrior of Chaos to join the battle in Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy. Although Desperado Chaos is most likely a playable character, I wouldn't count him as a proper Warrior of Chaos. Sure hope there are some new Chaos Warriors, like Barthandelus or Eald'narche, although Prishe confirmation (coupled with developers considering Eald'narche and his brother before choosing Prishe) seems to deny Eald'narche a place in Duodecim.

Gaming Sunday: Battle for Middle Earth II

Introduction

I've been wanting to play this game since it was out. I never knew about Battle for Middle Earth (BFME), but I once saw BFME II at a shop selling PC Games. Being a passionate Lord of the Rings fan, I laid my sights on it. Few years down the road, that is to say this year, armed with a new laptop and helpful friends, I have achieved that goal! Although wanting to play the game, I never looked deeper into gameplays and such, the words Lord of the Rings were enough for a guaranteed play. Especially since it is a Real Time Strategy game. I was therefore both amazed and disappointed at several aspects of the game. Coming right up!

Naruto 527, Bleach 436, One Piece 614

Mangas this week. I've realized that after I got into reading these mangas, I seldom watch the anime anymore. Some people might find that mangas are hard to read, due to the lack of animation and color, personally, i feel mangas are more interesting, mostly because they are free of stupid fillers. Each to his own, I guess.

Naruto 527

Countdown to Duodecim 4: Box Art, OST and Stuff

Hey, one and all, it's around three weeks until Dissidia 012 [Duodecim]: Final Fantasy is released. The hype is pretty much building up, with Box Art, OSTs and Stuff being revealed along the way. There is at least one playable character who has not been officially revealed, and up to three characters who will possible be revealed, namely Gilgamesh, Desperado Chaos and the mysterious Moogle/FFXIII Cosmos Warrior. I can't wait, I can't wait, I want it NOW!

Gaming Sunday: Lord of Arcana

Introduction

Another addition to a series of Square Enix PSP Games that are being released. Is it just me or is Square Enix a total fan of the PSP? It does sit well with me, since I only have a PSP. Just hope they don't switch to NGP too soon, at least not until I have the money to buy it. Lord of Arcana is a tad bit different then usual Square Enix games. For one thing, it doesn't really have a plot. I guess that is Square Enix's answer to legions of fans who are condemning their games for having poor stories written by 5 year olds. Lord of Arcana is much like the PSP heavyweight Monster Hunter in terms of gameplay, although couple with Square Enix's designers such as Nomura and Amano added with composer Nobuo Uematsu, Lord of Arcana may prove to be a superb game.

One Piece 613, Naruto 526, Bleach 435

It's been a pretty uneventful Chinese New Year. The usual visits coupled with the usual handshakes, conversation and so on. I actually spend the first day playing games and the second day watching anime. Not a good thing to do, but it was better than laying around waiting for someone whom you would probably only see once a year.

So anyway, mangas... they, I'm afraid, is also pretty much uneventful...with the exception of One Piece I guess...

One Piece 613

Countdown to Duodecim 3: Prishe and more

Been pretty messed up lately, just realized I totally missed last week's Countdown to Duodecim. With all the midterm tests preparation last week, history and morals...urgh... and preparation for Chinese New Year this week...ungahh!!! For those of you who do not know, Chinese New Year is a day the Chinese celebrate for the coming of a new year base on the Lunar Calendar. We clean our houses, probably what most people would know as Spring Cleaning. We also give away stuff like cookies, cakes and red packets (ang pau) and we receive them back again. Pretty redundant really. But it is all done in the name of relationship between "long lost" relatives. By the way, it's tomorrow.

Anyway, back on topic, not much news on Duodecim lately, I tried to dig up what I missed last week, but nothing much really. There are a few interesting ones though. FEW. 

Gaming Sunday: Dissidia 012 Prologus: Final Fantasy (JPN)

Introduction

Ah! The urge has thus been quenched, if only for a while. Thank God for the arrival of Dissidia 012 Prologus: Final Fantasy (henceforth known as Prologus). My urge to play Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy (hence forth Duodecim) has been fulfilled, if only for a while. Square Enix sure is smart to include a PAY to download demo, which includes a Story Mode, an Arcade Mode and a DLC assist character for the full game which will be arriving on US shores on 22nd March. Lightning and Kain are the only new characters playable in this demo, along with 6 others. It is really a short game that exposes to the some of the major changes involved in Duodecim, like assists and chase. What do you expect from a 300 yen demo? That's 11 bucks where I live, and 3.60 dollars in the US.

Naruto 525, Bleach 434, One Piece 612

Man, this was one hell of a week. Can you imagine? I wasn't at home for the entirety of yesterday, and had an exam stuck right at the end of the day. Not to mention that terribly mild headache that although not an actual nuisance, can be quite a distraction when studying for my exam, today. Oh gosh, I'm kinda worried about my results here, damn, should have studied earlier. So anyways, the Mangas of this week. 

Naruto 525

Gaming Sunday: FIFA Manager 11

Introduction

FIFA Manager 11 is the other big name football management game. Although having a smaller community when compared to Football Manager, FIFA Manager 11 is still one of the better football management games, and my personal favorite. Beats me why I like it better than Football Manager, even though most football management game lovers tend to prefer Football Manager over FIFA Manager.

Naruto 524, One Piece 611

No Bleach this week. I think. At least is wasn't on the two sites I checked.

Naruto 524

Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy Alternates

As promised, I shall deliver.

I will be posting up images of 3rd alternate, and a couple of 2nd alternates (namely Yuna and some changed 2nd alternates) and give some of my thoughts on them. Let's start off with the very first Final Fantasy.

FFI

Countdown to Duodecim 2: SE 1st Production Department Premier and more

It's been a few days since Square Enix's 1st Production Department Premier (formerly known as Fabula Nova Crystallis Conference), and dust have settled. Rumors and truth have now been distinguished, and it's time to write about it. I think. So let's kick things off with some none Duodecim stuff, like Fabula Nova Crystallis(FNC) and Kingdom Hearts 3D.

Gaming Sunday: Football Manager 2011

Yup, that is suppose to be me....

Introduction

This is actually the first time I played a Football Manager game since the split that brought about it. It was originally Championship Manager, and when the split came, it became Championship Manager and Football Manager. Obviously, Football Manager is the more successful of the two. Now, I must say that I am fan of football management games, so some of the stuff I write might be due to loving this kind of game too much. See, I don't even know what what I just wrote there means.

One Piece 610, Naruto 523, Bleach 433

Hey all, I was actually thinking about reviewing a manga a week for Fridays, but then it hit me that I would not have the time to read mangas to do reviews, besides, I like the way it was, so back to it it will be. Though I might add some more weekly mangas to the list, at least once I read them up to date, candidates may include D.Gray-Man, Fairy Tail and Claymore, haven't really decided yet. It could be that it will never happen. Who knows?

One Piece 610

Countdown to Duodecim 1: Yuna, PSP Bundle and more.

 

Wee...woohoo...wow...Yuna has been officially confirmed to take part in the epic battle between Chaos and Cosmos this coming March! Let me take a breather. Anyways, welcome to our very first...erm...episode/chapter/post...on Countdown to Dissidia [012] Duodecim: Final Fantasy, or shortened to Countdown to Duodecim, really. This is the first of a few posts, which will occur once a week, until the launch of Duodecim in Japan on 3rd March. I will be rambling on about my thoughts on Duodecim, and talk about various updates, such as the inclusion of lovely summoner Yuna, and complain about other stuff, such as why Yuna is not a gunner. Without further ado, let us begin our very first Countdown to Duodecim.

Aya as Lightning

Found this neat picture of Aya as Lightning, or should I say E** as Lightning. But I think I'll continue calling her Aya, since she's called that throughout the game. Check out the L'cie mark, the "eye" has opened, looks like Aya's time is running out. For those who doesn't get what I mean, check this. 

The 3rd Birthday: Secret Ending

As requested.

Couldn't find a video, so I recorded one myself.

Sound quality is a tad bad, oh well, it is really bad, mostly due to the fact that RemoteJoy doesn't save sounds and I had to record it with a mike.

A New Year and New Resolutions

Well, it is that time of the year again!

*Fireworks*, *Drumrolls*, *watevereffects*.

Yes, it is New Year, welcome to 2011. That means we are 1 year, 12 months and 20 days from the end of the world. According to the Mayan prophecy thingie thing.



Well, jokes aside, this means we need to get some new year's resolutions coming, both for myself personally, and for this blog's future!